On December 13, 2016, I had the privilege of talking with a woman, whose son does drugs. For her own privacy, I won't be giving out names. What I will tell you is her story.
"He's been in trouble with the law so many times Wendy, I'm tired. It drains you." These where the words she told me as we sat in her one bedroom apartment. Tears streamed down her face, the air filled with the weight of stress, exhaustion, worry and anger. Anger that she says she used to direct at herself but now feels toward her son. A mid-twenties young black man, she describes as thickheaded.
"He's gone away and cleaned himself up, only to come back to a community where all his troubles are waiting for him again. That's just what happens. He starts hanging around the same people and doing the same thing. One more incident and he could find himself in jail and he doesn't care, Wendy." She's the kindest person one could ever meet. I was met with a warm greeting, a prayer in her heart and a deep concern for what communities are doing. "Did you know they have places now drug users can go to shoot-up", say says. "That's not right; you can't fix a community by giving people drugs. You have to get the communities cleaned up. Not hand this people what they want."
It's gotten so bad for this woman that she says her son blames everyone else for all his problems, blames her. "I give him everything. We don't have much but he needs for nothing. He has issues, he takes pills but when he stops taking the pills and does his thing with the drugs, smoking, he gets into trouble. He does things without thinking, without caring what happens. Maybe if he goes to jail he'll wakeup." That tugs on your heart hearing a mother say, "Maybe if he goes to jail he'll wakeup." Sometimes, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture. Sure you can start all these community programs to help drug users but if the drugs remain in the communities you're fighting a battle you can't win.
Her last words to me, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't force them to drink. That's how I feel with my son. Nobody can help him but him."
